


Blood Runs Red

by UnapologeticallyMeatwad



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Same Outcome though, Takes Place During Chapter 11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-13 03:00:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20167042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnapologeticallyMeatwad/pseuds/UnapologeticallyMeatwad
Summary: When Ike sees the Black Knight suddenly emerge on the battlefield, he can't help himself but move in for the kill.  Fortunately, Soren is there to give him back-up.





	Blood Runs Red

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this incredibly quickly (in one sitting). 
> 
> Hope you like it!

Ike feels shame more than he ever has in his life.

Greil is dead. A moment has yet to pass on the battlefield that has allowed him to forget that still fresh wound. Now in a Crimean port town, it becomes obvious that many of the affected people of Daein's rule don't care about the company's mission to save the country. They even went as far as exposing them to the Daein Army who is now swarming Ike and his team from all over.

Ike has never seen anything like it. These men are relentless.

Yet somehow he strategizes. Soren holds off the local vigilante militia, while Titania cleaves a path through the town with Oscar, Boyd, Mia, Mist, and Rolf, while Ike does his best to lead his new recruits — Kieran, Nephenee, Brom, and Volke — past the vigilantes. Ike needs these people to trust him, which is hard when even the civilians apparently on their own side call them scum.

But they breach. They team-up and stop a thief from ransacking one of the homes, receiving a deadly lance from the owners in return for the rescue. Ike begins to feel confident, but as they pass over the bridge and ready their assault on General Makoya and his men, a foe emerges from behind.

Though the enemy is too far to catch up with them, Ike still turns on his heel and immediately he feels a horrible, clenching pain in his chest.

It's the Black Knight. The man who killed his father. Who taunted Ike and left him with nothing.

Ike's hand immediately goes for his sword. Instinctively, he chooses the silver blade gifted to him by his father. He makes one powerful stride forward, but only one. A heavy hand clamps down on his shoulder from behind, halting him in place.

Curiously, the Black Knight looks past his shoulder plates and cocks his head to the side. Almost in mockery at Ike shaking under the arm of a common farm hand.

"Commander Ike," Brom gasps. "We must keep going."

"You go," Ike snaps, shrugging Brom off of him. "That man killed my father."

"But Commander Ike — "

"Ho ho! So Commander Ike does possess an arch-foe!" Kieran decrees, waving his ax into the air. "I shall take up the front, Commander. Go vanquish that knave!"

Kieran's horse immediately vaults ahead, leaving them all in the dust. Brom sputters something unintelligible and leaps into pursuit despite the heavy weight of his gray armor.

Ike smiles and reaches out for Nephenee's shoulder. She's very green, but Ike can see her potential — that and Kieran can't even strike the broad side of a barn. Nephenee's anxiety bubbles into her flinching face, but Ike smirks for her. Nods his head. "You know what to do," he says. She smiles back, and marches off.

So it's just the two of them now. Ike approaches the Black Knight slowly, not sure of what to say, if there is anything to say. Perhaps he should just raise his blade and get this over with. But something in the air tells him this is all wrong, this popping sensation in the air molecules attempting to propel him away from this murderer. But still Ike moves forward.

"_So we meet again, Son of Gawain_," the Black Knight's voice is no more than a whisper echoing from his helm, but he needn't try harder to be heard. "_Why do you challenge me? You are not worthy of being my foe. Flee while you are able._"

Ike could run, it's true. But the hubris in saying that is what strikes a nerve. "You…" His blade arcs over his head. Suddenly red blurs his vision. "Die!" He runs ahead, sword bobbing with the ferocity of each stomp. "Die now!"

Ike starts with the head, but even with both hands on the blade, the Black Knight stops the attack with one mere twirl of the wrist. Levels his head to look straight into Ike's eye.

Ike growls and leaps back, going for the head again — he can't help himself — but _Clang! Clang!_ — the Black Knight moves as fast as any swordmaster Ike's met, despite the burden of his illustrious armor. Each collision sends a jolt down Ike's arms. He swears he can hear a dark chuckling come from within the helmet. He pulls his blade back for another swing, but the Black Knight suddenly moves into the offense.

The silver sword swings down like an ax, and it takes all of Ike's training and intuition to meet the blade, holding the sword over his face like a shield. At impact, Ike's blade whines as cracks blast through the silver. Crumbling. He tries pushing the Black Knight away, but already the Black Knight is on the move and Ike merely shoves his sword into the empty air.

The Black Knight stampedes towards Ike, the swing of his sword, the one Ike comes to know as Alondite, narrowly missing Ike dodge for dodge. But it's not play. The Black Knight is trying. He wants Ike dead.

Ike rushes ahead, anticipating a swipe at the head, and rolls on his heel, pivoting out of the way of Alondite and landing on both feet, elbow cracked back to the level of his head. Ike lunges forward, blade aiming for the stomach. The same technique the Black Knight used to kill Greil.

Ike's left hand squeezes the flowing red cape of the Black Knight, chest bumped up against his, his right elbow searing with pain, the tip of the sword crumbling away once impacting the armor.

"_Ha."_

The Black Knight's left fist hoists Ike off of his feet and hurls him like a sandbag. Ike throttles through the air and lands on his stomach, worthless blade tumbling from his hands and falling into the stream.

Ike rises up from the cloud of dust, knees buckling from under him, and stares down the slowly advancing Black Knight. "Is that the best you got?"

"_Tsch." _The Black Knight raises his sword and slashes at the air, a wave of light blitzing from the steel. Ike instinctively ducks, only looking up once he hears the loud _Crash!_ from behind. A crate bursts into millions of pieces, a stack of cargo falling over the bridge and making quite the wall to scramble over.

Ike turns back to the Black Knight with gritted teeth. "I am not going to die today," he tells himself.

* * *

Soren despises these foolish vigilante men. How he would love to lay waste to the Daein scum, but no, that Ranulf is right, it would damage the reputation of Elincia to hurt these men, and most of the recruits would fail in _not_ killing them. So Soren moves fast, pivoting this way and that to avoid their swords, tossing torrent upon torrent of wind, blasting the men yards away at a time.

Ashera, if he dies today because of Ike and Ranulf's mercy then he'll have to…

_Crash!_

Soren momentarily breaks his focus to look past one of the rooftops to see an enormous dust cloud shoot from the ground. Not anything any of the mages in this town can do, that is for certain…

"Ike!" Soren shouts without thinking. Ike cannot die today, not here. Let them at least make it to Begnion, because Soren is not ready to take charge of this little army.

(Surely he's next in line, certainly before wishy washy Titania.)

((Though there are far greater reasons for Ike to live, of course.))

Soren snaps back into focus when a violet blade slashes through the air towards the mark on his forehead. He raises a frail hand to the air and expels a tremendous gust of Elwind from his palm, stopping the blade mid-descent, the razor sharps edges nearly grazing him. The white haired man before him grits his teeth and pulls away from the wind, seeking a new opening.

Soren shuffles with him, his chest pounding, _begging_ him to release the spell and give himself over to death. But then — a shift in the wind behind him. Another vigilante, ax raised. Soren can't hear him nor see him, but he _knows_.

Soren drops to the ground, shifting the wind into carrying the sucker puncher's ax into the white haired man's blade. Before they break their clashing from each other, Soren shoots to his feet and hits the duo with a spell so hard that they tumble into a heap. He looks to the third and final vigilante and rather than deal with him in full, Soren raises an open palm to the sky and the dirt at erupts from below the vigilante, temporarily blinding him.

Soren has about ten seconds before the action begins anew. So has tries to call for Ike again, using yet another wind spell to carry his voice over the entire battlefield.

"_**Ike! Are you okay?!**_"

Shoot. He didn't mean for that to sound so desperate.

…

Still no response. Blast it all.

There's a crashing from several yards over and Soren twirls around, unsure of how to fight any longer. But fortunately, it's not any of the Daein men. It's Mordecai and Lethe, both shifted into their Laguz forms, wyvern blood coating their fangs.

"Ike needs our help," Mordecai bellows, Lethe sprinting ahead to strike, but then she rears back and her tail arcs high into the air. Odd for Lethe to feel such fear so openly.

Razor sharp teeth to a deadly blade tickle Soren's Adam's Apple. Perhaps not so odd. His chin bumps against the flat of the sword and Soren's crimson eyes peer past his bangs to see the white haired vigilante's face split into an ugly grimace. "What are you waiting for?" Soren hisses.

The vigilante gulps in a sob and drops the sword to the ground, lurching away from Soren and throwing himself on top of his ax wielding friend, knocking the weapon from his hands, and shoving a knee into the small of his back.

Soren's at an absolute loss of words. Just like the man the whited haired man just betrayed.

The man, whom Soren learns to be called Zihark, brushes the hair from his eyes and barks at Soren. "What are _you_ waiting for? Go! Help your friend!"

"Wh-wh-what?" Soren gasps. "B-b-but you're — "

"You're helping those Laguz, aren't you?"

"Y-yes, but — "

"Then go! I'll explain later!"

* * *

Silver dances everywhere in Ike's field of vision. No matter where he goes, he faces another onslaught. Fast as his feet take him, the Black Knight is faster. All that Ike has working for him is the Black Knight's rage; it makes him clumsy.

Ike moves against one of the buildings and leaps out of the way just in time for Alondite to plunge half of its length through a crummy, wooden wall. Ike catches his breath, taking two steps back when — the glowing light returns and the Black Knight slashes clean through the household, white light striking Ike in the stomach and knocking him flat on his back.

Ike touches his side and holds the splotches of blood on his gloved fingers, raising his hand into the light. _Clunk. Clunk._ The Black Knight draws nearer, a literal rumble in the ground at every step.

"_Unbelievable_," the Black Knight huffs. "_Even weaker than your father._"

Ike nods to that, winces at the oppressive sun that beams down onto him, the blur of the black armor quickly eclipsing the light, likely the last thing he'll ever see.

"Ike!"

Ike cranes his neck up to see Soren standing twenty feet away, breaths ragged, hair askew. Ike presses his lips together, trying to think of what that boy needs to hear before he witnesses his best friend die. That's what a good commander would do.

But Soren doesn't waste time on cherished last words — a green torrent of wind spikes from his palms and erupts into a hurricane. Ike boosts himself up to get a better look but Soren's scream ("_Down you idiot!")_ makes short work of that.

The hurricane just passes over Ike's chest, striking the Black Knight so hard that the hulking mass of armor actually shifts back a few feet. But not nearly enough to save Ike's life. The Black Knight raises his sword to the air, red cape threatening to tear off his shoulders, and Ike shuts his eyes.

But through the black void, Ike can see a glowing white and when he snaps back, he sees the Black Knight preparing one of those infernal magical slashes with Alondite. Soren has little idea that the Black Knight possesses such powers, and even more, Soren can't really take on a beating. The boy has always been too frail.

So Ike does what is perhaps the second most foolish thing he has done that day, and lifts into leg into the wind, directly in front of harm's way, and takes the blast to his calf. He screams as red shoots through his white pants, body crumpling in on itself. Not even enough to stop the magical strike, though it does throw off its trajectory enough that it misses Soren by a hair.

Distracted, the wind dies down and the Black Knight takes fast steps towards Ike, Alondite again raised over his head.

But Ike's got a trick up his sleeve. Right before Alondite meets Ike's hunched over back, Ike pulls free a spare sword from his back-up sheath and strikes the Black Knight in the stomach. Again, not even a dent or scratch, but it's something. Adrenaline kicks into Ike from all over and he leaps back, bouncing on his heels, spinning his sword in small circles.

"Ike, are you crazy?!" Soren shrieks from far away.

"I don't know," Ike grunts. "But he killed my dad."

A groan from the young strategist. Classic Soren. A huff from the all powerful general. Classic Black Knight.

Ike darts ahead, leg twisting out from under him, and he slashes at the Black Knight desperately. Definitely with less technique than before, but somehow it's more effective. There's a ripple in his joints from each impact with Alondite, but it's a good one. He's actually pushing back the Black Knight.

A few more slashes and Ike understands — Soren's wind is making Ike's iron sword hit harder — a lot harder.

* * *

This is impossible.

No iron weapon should withstand the might of the Black Knight. But here he is, getting pushed back by a mere boy. With each swing, he anticipates on finally downing this mercenary, but none of his strikes are resonating as they should.

In fact, he feels something pushing against his blade, as if a hand were physically holding him back. After one frustratingly long clash between swords, he manages to look up from his target.

It's that mage again. But how? Nothing can defeat him. Nothing. He steps back and swings at Ike again.

This time the boy _dodges_ him. Not even _dodges._ The Black Knight _misses_, sword flying far past his target, though in the heat of the moment, these untrained mongrels likely don't notice. He swings again, missing again, trying to lean into his off-kilter trajectory enough to rectify it, but he fails. Again and again Ike lives and moves in for another strike, likely thinking himself powerful.

It goes on for some time.

Then Ike finally strikes at something worthwhile. The sword smashes into the helmet, blade coming through the eyehole, too wide to fully enter, but long enough that the sharp of the iron just touches the bridge of his nose. Preposterous.

The Black Knight drops his sword and grabs Ike's and squeezes the blade so hard it shatters, shattered like glass. His fist lashes out and grabs Ike by the tunic, dragging him close enough that when his fist bears down on his face, that it feels quite worthwhile.

Ike smashes against the ground, surely down for the count this time. The Black Knight lifts Alondite from the dirt, taking time to brush off the abhorrent dust, when he notices that the mage boy has yet to flee. He stands there with curled up fists as if he can actually stop the all-powerful Black Knight.

"_Don't be foolish_," the Black Knight whispers. "_Else you'll fall just like both of your commanders._"

But the boy remains planted. Even dares to toss up another wind spell.

The Black Knight marches again the throttle of the wind, closing the gap between him and the mage fast. He raises his sword for the kill but stops just as soon.

It's the mark on the boy's head that gives him pause.

It's the sign of… no, that's not possible, is it?

The boy, Soren, clutches his robes and looks up at the Black Knight with crimson eyes. Eyes just like Alemedha's…

This is too much. The Black Knight almost drops his sword and holds out a hand. Of all the places to run into another Branded. They are too much alike for him to just die here so pointlessly, and this boy is so weak. So pitiful. He should be stronger. He can be stronger. If he takes the Black Knight's hand.

But The Black Knight also knows he cannot, knows that whatever secret is behind this boy and his Branded mark and Almedha's eyes, it is not something that Ashnard wants disclosed… even to his most trusted confidant.

_Crash!_

Though he feels no pain, something heavier than even his armor forces the Black Knight to the ground. As the wood splinters around him, holding him against the dirt, it becomes obvious that he should have made a true killing stroke on the son of Gawain.

He has failed.

* * *

Soren looks up past the wreckage to see the battered, bloodied, and bruised Ike holding a hand out for him. Without hesitation, he takes it, immediately realizing his foolishness, and shifting the weight so that is Soren carrying Ike and not the other way around.

They move fast, scaling over the wreckage and towards the rendez-vous. Thank Ashera that Titania has already lead the team to victory, quickly ushering members of their army onto the docked boat. Though the second she sees Soren holding Ike, she breaks from the assembly and begins shouting. Her white horse pulls up alongside Soren and though he truly doesn't want to let go of Ike, he hoists him onto the saddle.

Mist grabs the horse's reigns and immediately sets to work with her staff. Rhys rushes to Soren's side and begins to help him too, but Soren swats away the rod before it can do any help.

"Not me. Ike."

"Soren, you look like a corpse."

"I know I do," Soren snaps. "I always do. Help. Ike."

Rhys sucks in his teeth and nods, trailing after Ike and his healing party. Soren knows in his heart that Ike will be fine. There's no way they could have come this far just to fail right now. Not as if he has a choice. He has to believe.

"What happened?" Titania's gruff voice snaps Soren out of his little episode.

"The Black Knight," Soren whispers. "Still alive. We need to go. Now."

Titania nods and looks past the wreckage on top of the bridge. "Alright."

* * *

"Brother, you stupid fool! Fighting a knight as strong as that… you idiot! I was so scared!"

"Ah, Mist. A moment with your brother, please."

"What? No, Soren, I — "

"He knows."

It's hard to see in the cabin, candlelight thankfully dim enough that Ike's black eye blends in with the dark. Ike cranes his neck up from the bed he's been propped onto and flashes a toothy smile at his sister. "It's true. I do know. _Whoops! _See? I get it."

Mist rolls her eyes and flashes one significant look at Soren before storming off to check on Nephenee and the new guy, Zihark. Soren smirks and slides onto the bed, fingers immediately running through Ike's blue hair, gently massaging the scalp. He's not sure what motivates him to be so intimate, maybe it's the lighting or something.

"You were really something back there, Soren," Ike rasps. "You know that next time we fight, I'm going to have to move you to the frontlines."

Oh Ike.

"No, I was the same as ever," Soren drawls. "You though. You should give yourself some credit. Anyone lesser would have died to that man."

"Tsch," Ike hisses. "I got lucky."

Ike leans deeper into Soren's touch, all the color drawn from his face. He frowns. "You don't need to tell me that what I did was stupid. Especially considering that I'm the commander here… should we engineer a story that makes me look a bit more brave?"

Soren's eyes narrow in such a subtle way that only Ike can pick up on the change. "Ike, you fight for what you believe in. I wish I could be so bold."

"Mm," Ike sighs, narrowing his eyes, likely disappointed that they aren't going to talk about the war for once. His gnarled hand twists into the air, fingers painfully stretching out from the palms. Soren takes the hand and Ike smiles back, "You fight with me everyday Soren. Maybe it's you who should give yourself credit."

"Ike, I don't — " Soren almost growls. " — I don't care about the war. Or Elincia. Or Daein."

Ike blinks rapidly. "What? Then why are you here? Our chances of actually winning this are slim to none and — "

Soren offers the slightest of smiles. How can Ike not see?

"I'm only here because of you, Ike."

Something must have struck Ike from within, because he stops talking. Soren frowns because he didn't mean to hurt his greatest friend. When Ike returns, his eyes are pink, and Soren suddenly chokes on something. What has he done?

Yet somehow Ike smiles, though it seems painful. "Ah. Okay. I understand."

Soren nods. He tries to smile but he's pretty sure that kind of expression on his dour face makes him look stupid, so he lets his mouth fall back into place — though that becomes difficult when Ike strokes Soren's cheek and props himself up high enough to look him in the eye.

Their noses almost touch.

Ike mouths something, then bows his head, upset. Very unlike Ike to not say something. He lifts his head again. "As Commander, I am ordering you to go to Rhys right away. You look sick."

Soren furrows his brow. "Not this again, Ike. There are other people who have sustained more damages than me. No one has fallen in combat and we performed to our best but — "

"_Soren_."

Soren sighs and finally gives into Ike's touch, raising a hand to touch Ike's bruised knuckle. "Promise me you'll be awake when I return."

"Huh?" A little knot forms between Ike's eyebrows. It's very endearing. "Yeah. Okay. I'll stay awake. You want to talk or something?"

Soren nods. "Yes. I miss you."

Some color returns to his cheeks, but it's from embarrassment. Not good health or anything of that sort. Thankfully Ike doesn't seem embarrassed himself. Always so brash. The commander just grins from ear to ear.

"I missed you too, Soren."


End file.
